She's an Oscar-winning actress. She's naturally beautiful. She grew up in the spotlight and is now happily married. Arguably, her most famous role to date was playing a Disney princess.
Yet somehow, Anne Hathaway is the most hated woman in America.
Alright, so that statement is a bit of an exaggeration. But if you were on Twitter while watching the Oscars ceremonies, the vitriolic statements being made about Hathaway as soon as she stepped on the red carpet would make her seem more like a puppy killer and less like an award-winning actress.
Confession: I'm not an Anne Hathaway fan. I honestly think all the venomous insults thrown her way are comical. But at the same time, the spiteful behavior directed her way has to have some basis in reason.
Naturally as the investigative reporter I am, I took it upon myself to unearth what makes Anne Hathaway such an easy target for America's ire.
The simple answer: She's too perfect.
It sounds like a cop-out answer, but it isn't. I'm not saying people are jealous of Hathaway because she is so perfect. Yes, she does have it all - husband, healthy career, good looks. But she doesn't do anything in an "awesome" way. She's basic.
Hathaway is sort of like the annoying girl in class who always does the reading, always come prepared and always talks during the class. Even the teacher gets tired of her sometimes. She has no clue how crazy she drives everyone else in the class.
Meanwhile, you woke up 10 minutes before class - in the outfit you wore to Fever last night. That's how America feels about Anne Hathaway.
It's sad in a way, because Hathaway's career in a way has gotten worse just as it has gotten better. She captured our hearts in her role as Mia Thermopolis in "The Princess Diaries." In that movie, she was quirky, funny and relatable. She had her imperfections, but she was also a princess.
But as Hathaway chose more challenging roles and became more devoted to her craft, she started to drive us insane. Her role as a recovering addict in "Rachel Getting Married" won her critical acclaim. It also was perhaps the most uncomfortable performance in easily the most miserable movie I have ever seen. She got dominated by Meryl Streep in "The Devil Wears Prada" (but then again, who could ever match up to Meryl?) and she showed up in "The Dark Knight Rises" this past summer in a slightly miscast role as Catwoman.
But the final straw was her turn as the dying prostitute Fantine in "Les Miserables." Disclosure: I thought "Les Mis" was an awful contender in the Best Picture category. It was loud, it was long and clunky. I felt like I was being hit over the head with a brick for nearly three hours while watching it. There wasn't anything new or compelling about "Les Mis."
Hathaway wasn't onscreen very long in the movie - spoiler alert: disease-ridden prostitutes don't have very long lifespans - yet the role earned her Best Supporting Actress at Sunday's Academy Awards. Hathaway was widely praised for her supposedly tear-inducing rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream" in the film. In all honesty, Susan Boyle sang a better version when she first appeared on "Britain's Got Talent." Hathaway sang it because she is a perfectionist and wanted to win an Oscar. Boyle sang it because she was a frumpy 50-year old cat lady who had never been kissed. Who would you rather root for.
When Hathaway stepped on stage to accept her award, the first thing she said was "It came true," as if she were shocked to be winning an award she had been the front-runner in for months. Um, sorry to burst your bubble Anne, but if you truly were surprised about winning, you were the only person in the room who felt that way. Sally Field, who was also nominated for the award, made an appearance in a skit with host Seth McFarlane earlier in the evening where the two went on a tryst because even Field admitted she knew Hathaway would win.
It's that false modesty that really bothered me. Apparently Hathaway practiced the speech beforehand to stave off the Hatha-haters that make her life so miserable. And she still failed; delivering a speech that came across as fake.
It's sort of funny that we live in a world where the actress who stumbles onto stage and admits to taking a shot before walking into the pressroom (Hey, Jennifer Lawrence!) is revered while Hathaway, who is glossy and seemingly without imperfections aside being an insufferable know-it-all is lambasted.
But Anne, I'll take you back if you say "Sorry" with M & M's spelled out over a pizza.
